Editorial—Story Submissions, etc.

How do I submit a story? What about corrections or updates?

To submit stories, corrections, or updates, please use
the
submissions form.
Submit corrections or updates just as if you were
submitting any other news item, by using the
web submission form.
Please include a link to the story you're updating or
correcting, and explain what the trouble is.

How do I Ask Slashdot?

Use the same
submissions form;
just make clear that you're asking a question.
(A good way is to title your submission starting with
"Ask Slashdot".)

Why did you change my submission?

We often edit submissions for reasons of spelling,
grammar, or clarity, or to format them for visual
consistency. We're happy when a story submission comes
in with no changes needed, but most stories get at
least a tweak or two. Sometimes we'll shorten a
submission to emphasize its key points or points,
remove links not relevant or central to the story
posted, swap anchor text to make links easier to read,
or substitute a better link for one that may be broken,
expired or paywalled (or not the best link for some
other reason). When two submissions offer different
sources, we may combine them into a single story.
Sometimes, too, we may fold links to relevant previous
Slashdot stories into the text, or add these links
separately. Though we do so in good faith, we apologize
in advance and strive to correct any errors that this
tweaking introduces.

Could you explain why my submission was declined?

This is harder than it sounds. We try to select the
most interesting, timely, and relevant submissions, but
can only run a fraction of those submitted; there are
probably as many reasons for stories to get declined as
there are stories. Think positive: read our
submissions guidelines
for some hints about increasing the chances that we'll
run yours.

Can I submit a story anonymously?

Yes. If you log in, though, the editors can follow up
with questions if for some reason we'd otherwise like
to run your story but some crucial word or link is
missing.

Where do I submit press releases?

We'd rather you didn't submit press releases—at
least not ones that sound like press releases! But if
you're going to submit one,
please use the submission form.

Can I email a story submission?

In short, No. If you email one of the editors directly,
the others won't see your submission. (And your mail
might hit someone who's on vacation, sleeping, or has a
downed network connection.) Assume that any emailed
story submission is likely to go unread; please
use the submission form
instead.

I submitted a similar submission before the one you actually ran!

Sometimes we post a later submission rather than an
earlier one. There are a variety of factors: the
personality of the post, the quality of the submission,
or even the quantity of stories already posted when
your submission entered the queue—and sometimes,
we just mess up.

I want to write a book review. What should I do?

Be sure to read our
book review guidelines
so you know what we're looking for. When you're ready
to submit it, you can do so on our submissions page.